Chapter 578: Joy and Tragedy
“Every part of my body is wounded. My neck, stomach and chest. I saw how I harvested my own organs. My head was twisted around my neck…” Gao Ming sat on the bridge. His hands trembled. The butcher’s knife fell, but he didn’t reach for it.
“What kind of despair compelled me to die so many times? What is it?
“Is it fate?
“I can’t remember. Why have I forgotten the most important part?
“How did I leave that nightmare? How did I leave Han Hai? Where is that city? Is it inside my heart? Do I have to dig out my heart to check?”
Pain filled his eyes. Gao Ming was chasing after the truth, but he didn’t expect the truth to bring him so much pain. Perhaps ignoring everything and having a normal life with Liu Yi was the better choice. The best choice for Gao Ming might be to forget. “No.” Gao Ming gripped his head. “No! No! People are waiting for me! Why are they waiting for me? Are they waiting for me to go back? Or are they waiting for me to do something?”
The river outside Dream Break Town flowed gently. The blood and the Water Dragon King were washed away, but Gao Ming didn’t appear to wish to leave. Dream Release was to force oneself to face the thing one hated in one’s heart. Gao Ming’s first Dream Release happened when he fought against the Water Dragon King, who controlled one’s fear. When fate appeared, Gao Ming and the Water Dragon King were overly stimulated.
“Sorry… But you have to focus. Your friend, Bai Feng, is in a bad spot. If you stay here any longer, I fear she might really marry Madam Xi.” Fu Shu began carefully. He had to prepare himself before he dared to interrupt Gao Ming. After all, Gao Ming showed that he could easily tear him apart.
Gao Ming slowly calmed down. He took a deep breath and eventually escaped the influence of Dream Release. Perhaps the fight was too intense. An emotion called ‘comfort’ and endless life force leaked out of his blood. This was not from the God of Flesh and Blood. It was because the flesh tree could sense Gao Ming’s distress. It tried to crawl from the other nightmares to Dream Break Town. After consuming its fruit, the tree treated Gao Ming as one of its own.
Gao Ming placed his hand on his chest. The walkie-talkie gave out static as if someone was trying to contact him. Due to Fu Shu’s presence, Gao Ming ignored it.“Even if I’m in the nightmare world, people still care about me.” Gao Ming meant the flesh tree and the person on the walkie-talkie, but Fu Shu misunderstood him. After all, he was the only person on Gao Ming’s side.
The fear in his eyes faded slightly. Fu Shu shook his head. “We are monsters in the eyes of the normal people. Therefore, we can understand each other. No matter what, I’m on your side.”
Gao Ming picked up the butcher’s knife and placed it back in Chun Niang’s clothes. Gao Ming stood up, holding the altar. The mist dissipated. The bridge was destroyed in places. There were broken scales and black blood everywhere. “The Water Dragon King is at its weakest. After saving Bai Feng, I should find Zhang Mingli and kill the Water Dragon King together.”
With a slight push, the altar that belonged to the Water Dragon King toppled over. The snakeskin lost its divinity. Its accumulated faith was eaten by the God of Flesh and Blood. Light snake-like patterns appeared on the base of the God of Flesh and Blood’s altar.
“The altar is to collect the sacrifices from the living, generate faith and emotional energy. There is a Dragon King Temple under the river. The Water Dragon King hid all the fear it stole from the other nightmares there. You need to destroy or take over the temple before you can take down the Water Dragon King.” After Fu Shu decided to side with Gao Ming, he was a lot more forthcoming.
“Okay.” Gao Ming crossed the river with Fu Shu on his back. Walking on the path covered in weeds, there were big and small graves on both sides. Some barely had gravestones. Only a wooden sign.
“I crawled out of one of these graves when I first arrived,” Gao Ming tossed some paper money around. These paper money could be found everywhere in Dream Break Town but they became conspicuously less after they crossed the bridge.
“Little friend, stop moving forward. There are bears in the forest. They are called human-bears.” Gao Ming soon heard an elder’s voice. He turned around and saw a lanky old man walking out from behind an old grave. His beard and hair were white. He wore old and tattered clothes. He only had one arm. A large piece of red cloth was sewn to his chest.
“Elder, what is a human-bear?” Gao Ming ignored the signals from Fu Shu and asked.
“They are about the size of a normal human, but they are cunninger than humans. They can swim and climb trees. One swipe of their hand and they can shatter an adult male’s head. Some of them even know how to speak the human language.” The old man hid behind the grave, “If you see something humanlike waving at you in the forest, just run.”
“Thank you, sir.” Gao Ming bowed and continued on his way.
The weeds became bushes, swallowing the path. Gao Ming could only follow the God of Flesh and Blood’s guidance. Incidentally, the path led to a creepy forest.
Gao Ming took out the butcher’s knife. His eyes were bloodshot, and his emotions became unstable again, “Fu Shu, do you think we’ll run into any bears?”
“Then, they are truly unlucky.” Fu Shu had great confidence in Gao Ming, “I’ll help check behind you.”
Gao Ming chopped away the branches and found the path opened by the wedding procession. He moved for several hundred metres and was surrounded by old trees. The branches were tied with red ropes and knots. Gao Ming spotted dead babies in the tree holes and old people strung on the trees. s
“When some of the people in town became old and ill, they would be sent by their neighbours or children into the forest to become live graves.” Fu Shu checked the corpses. Their organs had been eaten. “The bears in the forest feast on them. After eating many humans, they became cleverer than humans.”
Gao Ming lowered his body. He saw many strange things in the forest. Life and death appeared to be intertwined. There were mutated babies who died and live graves formed from old people. There were also couples who died for love and villagers who went insane.
Tragedies were everywhere but the branches were decorated with festive red ropes. The mud was dotted with blessing papers. There were sound of trumpets and gongs in the distance, signifying a grand wedding.